Is it possible to access a ref in the render method?

Yes, you can access a ref in the render method, but what you get from it depends on how you're using the ref and when in the component lifecycle you're rendering.

For example, when using ref to access a DOM node (e.g., divRef.current), it's not immediately available on the first render.

const divRef = useRef(null);

console.log(divRef.current); // ❌ null on initial render
return <div ref={divRef}>Hello</div>;